360 pages : 27 cm

Michelle Brown, former curator at the British Library, gathers together seventy fragile biblical treasures in this sumptuously illustrated volume that captures the development of both Bible and book, as well as a formative period of early Christian history. The book features a number of rare parchments, codices, illuminated manuscripts, and jeweled bindings, including new finds from the Monastery of St. Catherine's at Mount Sinai, Egypt, and the Niketas Bible of the 10th-century CE, one of the greatest examples of Byzantine illumination. Leading authorities in the field explore the early history of the Bible in the accompanying essays, revealing its transformation into the complex symbol of faith that it is today

"Published by the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on the occasion of the exhibition "In the beginning: bibles before the year 1000," October 21, 2006--January 7, 2007, organized by the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in partnership with the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford"--Title page verso

Includes bibliographical references and index

Foreword / Freer Gallery of Art & Arthur M. Sackler Gallery -- Foreword / The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford -- Introduction / Michelle Brown -- Charles Lang Freer's biblical manuscripts / Ann Gunter -- The Bible: the journey of the text -- Europe and the Near East, circa 800 C.E. -- Bible and book / Harry Y. Gamble -- The Christian Orient / Monica J. Blanchard -- Spreading the Word / Michelle P. Brown -- The book as icon / Herbert L. Kessler -- Discovering the Bible -- Scroll and codex: The earliest Hebrew scriptures. The earliest Christian scriptures -- Formation and codification: The evolution of the Bible. The earliest Christian Bibles -- From Babel to Pentecost: "sacred" languages and the vernaculars -- Spreading the Word: The single-volume Bible. The book as desert, the scribe as evangelist. From eastern deserts to western isles. Early Christian Britain and Ireland -- The book as icon -- Reference catalogue -- Manuscripts and lenders in the exhibition -- Chronology -- Glossary and who's who -- Notes to the essays

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